by David Brenneman
"‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Deuteronomy 5:20.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Exodus 20:16.
"You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ” Luke 18:20.
"You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” Mark 10:19.
"Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness;" Matthew 19:18.
“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness." Exodus 23:1.
The definition of bearing false witness is rather clear...don't lie about a person or a situation that has happened.
It sure is difficult being a Christian in today's world when legally people are being forced to indeed bear false witness concerning people who are intentionally living in sin, who shake their fist at God, being told they must accept them as they portray themselves to be because the law says so.
We're to live with Godly Integrity.
We're not to join in the world's dark deeds. Jesus didn't high-five those selling in the Temple, He overturned the tables and drove them out.
Those caught in sin, He instructed to go and sin no more. He didn't tell them they were good and could go about their own business.
Jesus repeatedly has told us all from the Old Testament to the New Testament that He's got an extremely dim view on people lying about the truths of God's Word.
God didn't make any mistakes when He created individuals. Nobody needs to fix what He designed a person to be physically.
Just because a law or two has been written to protect such individuals it doesn't make it right in the sight of God.
The lives of Believers are to be modeled after Jesus Christ, not celebrities, not sports figures, not political figures, not after fictional characters, not even a cat or a dog.
This world is at enmity with the Creator of all things. Satan's schemes include full perversion of the will of God for mankind. His schemes include getting Believers to just accept things rather than taking a stand on the Word of God.
We're in the midst of a Spiritual battle that is building towards the Great Tribulation, Armageddon and the Final Judgment of God.
The truth is millions are being lied to about who and what they are and this world is accommodating them. Christians in the workplace are coming face-to-face with people legally more protected than they are.
Standing firm in the Lord is what you and I must do. Scripture says to pray for those who persecute you. Think about that. If you're not taking a stand in Christ they won't be likely to be persecuting you.
We are not to join in their hypocrisy. We aren't to join in their lies about how they define themselves now.
Jesus is not going to address them as they now describe themselves. He's going to address them as He created them to be.
To bear false witness also means more than what we've been talking about so far. We're to be living examples of Christ Jesus to this world in all our dealings with this world. Scripture says that where it be possible be at peace with all men. Certainly implies that there's going to be times when that's not possible.
Keep that whole armor of God on you at all times. Pray about who and what you're facing today. Stand firm in the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Church is doing this the Scriptures say that the gates of Hell will not be able to withstand the onslaught of the Church.
Stand firm in the faith. Obey God and leave the consequences to Him. There's no good reason, legally or otherwise, to bear false witness against anyone or for anyone. It's a sin. Plain and simple it's sin.
We're to be holy as He is Holy.
Keeping our focus on the Author and the Perfector of our faith.
All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.
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